Friday, December 11, 2015

Flannel Friday - Snowflakes


I love snowflakes!  I think they are so pretty; I love to decorate with cutout snowflakes in the winter, and I've always wanted to make a snowflake wedding cake, but never got the chance (I used to have a wedding cake business once upon a time).  But, don't let me catch you with anything but proper 6-pointed snowflakes!

These are super easy to make with an Ellison die-cut machine.  I used sparkle-felt, though it's not as sparkly as I'd like and I don't think the sparkle shows up in the picture.  There are sparkle craft foam sheets and glitter paper (in the scrapbooking section) that are REALLY sparkly, too.  You could dress them up with glitter glue as well [if anyone knows of a glitter glue that actually comes out in a nice, neat line, PLEASE tell me in the comments!].  I made up a simple counting song to go with them:

(This is just a small board I rigged up at home from an old
flannel pillowcase; the one I use at work is much bigger.)

"Ten Little Snowflakes"

One little, two little, three little snowflakes.
Four little, five little, six little snowflakes.
Seven little, eight little, nine little snowflakes.
Ten little snowflakes fall.

They are falling all around us.
They are falling all around us.
They are falling all around us.
Millions of snowflakes fall!

Ten little, nine little, eight little snowflakes.
Seven little, six little, five little snowflakes.
Four little, three little, two little snowflakes.
And one little snowflake falls.
 
I put the snowflakes on the board one by one as we sing, and everyone else counts up with their fingers. [ If you have the time and inclination, you could also cut out a whole lot of lightweight paper snowflakes and toss them over the kids when you get to the "millions of snowflakes fall" line.]  Then remove the snowflakes from the board as you sing the last verse.
 
"Five Little Snowflakes"
 
I also found two "Five Little Snowflake" rhymes at Bussongs.com.  One counts up from one to five, and the other counts down from five to one.  You can do one, both, or mash them up together like I did into one long poem that first counts up, then down. Again, I put the snowflakes on, then take them off, one by one as we say the rhyme, and everyone else uses their fingers and we act out the motions.
 
"Five Little Snowflakes"
 
One little snowflake with nothing to do.
Along came another and then there were two.

Two little snowflakes laughing with glee.
Along came another, and then there were three.

Three little snowflakes looking for some more.
Along came another, and then there were four.

Four little snowflakes dancing as though alive.
Along came another, and then there were five.

Five little snowflakes flew round and round.
One got caught by the wind and went floating down.

Four little snowflakes flew round and round.
One got caught by the wind and went floating down.

Three little snowflakes flew round and round.
One got caught by the wind and went floating down.

Two little snowflakes flew round and round.
One got caught by the wind and went floating down.

One little snowflake flew round and round.
Until it got caught by the wind and went floating down.
 
I do realize the first part is different for each stanza, while in the second part the number is the only thing that changes.  At first I thought about finding another count-down rhyme with stanzas that change each time, but then I decided the kids would have a much easier time joining in on the more repetitive one, so I decided to keep it as is.
 
And as a bonus, a link to Snowcrystals.com, a site by snowflake expert Kenneth G. Libbrecht, with some *amazing* photographs of real snowflakes, along with the science behind how they form, videos of the growth of lab-created snowflakes, and snowflake books.  If you're ambitious enough, you can make patterns for your snowflake cutouts based on some of these.
 
To see more Flannel Friday posts from other bloggers, go to this week's Flannel Friday Round-Up hosted by Lisa at "Libraryland", or visit the Flannel Friday Pinterest board for tons of inspiration.  For more information about Flannel Friday and how to participate, visit the Flannel Friday site.

No comments:

Post a Comment